Asalaamu alaikum sisters and brothers,
Yesterday alhamdulillah, I was able to attend the Juammah prayer here in my city. The brother giving the khutbah was talking about the different types of Ibadah and then went on to speak about our Ummah in Syria and the crisis they are in and how important it is to unite to help them during this time. An older brother sitting in the chair in the brothers sections started yelling about how it is not a place for “politics” and how we should be telling Saudi and Qatar, not us. The brother who gave the lecture stayed patient as the other yelled, saying “Calm down ahkhi, not now ahkhi, please, this isnt the place nor the time to be yelling.” I just want to address this issue at hand….

First of all, we are told that when one of our brothers or sisters in Islam faces distress, we need to help them. I also think it is important to remember that if it were us in that situation, we would be begging Allah subhana wa t’ala for help, and making dua that others were making dua for us. If it were our family over in Syria, (or Yemen, or anywhere else) we would want anyone who was able to help our family, to help them. Hence, if there is ever a khutbah in the masjid, and there is something you do not agree with, dont be so arrogant and yell out for the brother to stop talking. Dont stay. Leave for the sake of Allah and keep your comments to yourself, and discuss them after, in a civil conversation. Just this morning, these screenshots were on the news… I feel very ashamed for that brother who had the terrible urge to voice his opinion yesterday…

A mother, trying to look for other wounds on her three year old son, and her injured husband, as he lay with his son as his son died in his arms. الذين اذا اصابتهم مصيبة قالوا انا لله وانا اليه راجعون Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji’un